The construction of the Blues’ 2017-18 coaching staff was anything but conventional, but don’t overlook the wisdom it could bring.

Raise your hand if you’d ever heard of a ‘coach in waiting’ before the Blues placed the tag on Mike Yeo last year.

How many times in history has a team pulled off a first-round upset, fallen to the Stanley Cup runners-up in the second round, and then let go of all its assistant coaches? That’s what happened after the Blues beat Minnesota and then lost to Nashville, leading to the departures of Rick Wilson, Steve Thomas and Ray Bennett.

How many times has an entire minor-league staff been promoted to the NHL at once? That’s what happened this summer when the Blues brought in three coaches from last year’s Chicago Wolves’ staff to fill those vacancies: Craig Berube, Darryl Sydor and Daniel Tkaczuk.

How many times has a team allowed a player to sign elsewhere in free agency and then re-sign him...